Are Black Americans Treated Unfairly And Poorly By Police

As I was conducting research about police brutality I came up with three questions I wanted to find out. I wanted to know what race group is affected by police brutality the most, why they were affected by this the most and what to do to stop police brutality involving shooting civilian. This Paper talk about how police brutality is a major issue in America right now. There’s many different types of police brutality but police officers killing civilians is something that is issue in our nation currently. After doing reaching this topic I was able to find out that African Americans have been affected by this the most out of any race. African Americans are affected by this the most because in some cases African Americans are usually stereotyped and this causes them to be treated different by police. Ways we can help this issue is by supporting these organizations that are against police brutality and encouraging police officers around the nation to always have a body camera on them at all times.

Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict defines police brutality as the use of excessive or unnecessary force by police against the public. Excessive force is explained to be any behavior or force beyond what is reasonably necessary in order to control a situation. It is a common misnomer that people believe some police use excessive force more often than not. What’s more concerning is most of the time people believe that this excessive force is usually focused upon the African American men, women, and children. This misnomer is typically found to be found in city settings where the population consists of mostly African Americans. The population make up causes the common belief to seem more true than it may otherwise appear.

Police brutality has been a major issue since slavery. In slavery people, mainly whites, were able to do anything to black people without having to deal without dealing with the consequences. Families were destroyed, people died, babies were killed, and many unknown factors still to this day that will never be known. When slavery was abolished, it did not end right away. It took several years and still is not abolished if you look at in a political way. People of power, mainly white, were not happy that a black person could be seen as equals. This is the main reason why they feel it is okay to lash out at black people. There are several major issues that are causing and epidemic in The United States. However, the main issue that seems to be the most discussed is about police brutality in the black community. “Police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. “Excessive use of force” means a force well beyond what would be necessary in order to handle a situation. Police brutality can be present in a number of ways. The most obvious form of police brutality is a physical form. Police officers can use nerve gas, batons, pepper spray, and guns in order to physically intimidate or even intentionally hurt civilians. Police brutality can also take the form of false arrests, verbal abuse, psychological intimidation, sexual abuse, police corruption, racial profiling, political repression and the improper use of Tasers”

Over the last two years in the United States the African-American people have been fighting a war within our own backyards. The Washington Post reports that since January 2015, the police have shot and killed over 175 young black men ranging from ages 18-29; 24 of them were unarmed. On the flip side 172 young white men were killed, only 18 being unarmed. With these statistics there are similarities in the numbers but, blacks were killed at rates disproportional to their percentage of U.S population (1.Washington Post). Of all unarmed people shot and killed by police in 2015. With 40% being black men make up just 6% of the nation’s populations. In the wake of the killings of Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, and many more the world has been made more publicly aware of injustices black people have to handle when dealing with law enforcement. Crime in the black community is nothing new in the black community or should I say black on black crime. There is a bad stereotype that has been put on black people since slavery times that I believe has help fueled the violence between the police and my people.

Over the past decade, police brutality has covered major headlines because officers have acted out in ways that have made citizens question their motives. Things such as unjustified shootings, deadly chokings, and rough treatment have all added to the constant problem of police brutality in the black community. Annoyingly, the police officers responsible for the killings and abuse are not held for long before they are discharged to their normal routines. Since many people believe that the issues of police brutality is based on race, officers should be held accountable for their misconduct. Accountability will permit officers to treat all with equality; therefore using the appropriate amount of force on everyone. Often cops are indicted in less than 1% of killings, but the indictment rate for citizens is 90% which is a major problem. If someone does wrong they should suffer the consequence no matter who they are. As a result of misconduct officers tend be mistrusted by their communities. Deaths in the black community often stems from police officers using excessive force such as assaults, beating and shootings.

The OJ Simpson murder case was an event that transfixed the nation over 20 years ago, with everyone who was around back then having some recollection of the whole ordeal. Today, that same case in entering back into the public consciousness, as a new television series dramatizing the events, entitled “The People vs. OJ Simpson”, just premiered. In an op-ed for the New York Times, John McWhorter pens an argument that the case was symbolic of race relations between the police and the African-American community. McWhorter, an African-American, goes into detail about how he did not understand why his community was cheering back in 1995 about Simpson being acquitted. McWhorter even believed that Simpson was guilty. However, he does now

Racial profiling, stereotyping, and different styles of policing has led to the disproportionate targeting of minorities by law enforcement agencies. Warren et al. (2006) notes that law enforcement often use two forms of racial profiling. One is defined by Warren et al. (2006) as out of place profiling. This particular form of racial profiling targets an individual if they do not match the general make up of a certain community. Another method of racial profiling Warren et al. (2006) explains is drug interdiction profiles, which encourage officers to target drug traffickers using their racial background to make traffic stops and search their vehicles for contraband. Furthermore, Terrill and Reisig (2003) findings

I stand here today to present you with the issue that needs to be addressed immediately: racial injustice and police brutality. America is base on the fundamental principle of equality and freedom to be individual. However, this cannot happen due to the unjust to we, the blacks. Our ancestors helped through the civil revolution, many great people- such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, President Obama that try to create equality for people. America is a place where people of different color love and accept each other despite their differences. Throughout history, black people being treated brutality that led to the death of many innocent blacks who were killed by police officers, and we need to put a stop to this. People will always hear that their black male or female were killed by a higher authority figure; however, they still face no consequences. Most of the time the police officers that are not held accountable for the killing of unarmed black males because no criminal charges are pressed against them. There are still police officers on the street, discriminating blacks because they do not believe that blacks are equal to them. Many police officers that will kill even a young black male or female and then get a away with it. Yes, all human lives are valuable, but today I am specifically addressing the black lives matter movement. Blacks lives matter movement is important because we are addressing the white supremacy in our nation. It is an cry out for help

In recent years police brutality towards African Americans has increased. This violence has resulted in riots across the United States. The August 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri many Americans, some who are former Civil Rights activists, have spoken out against police brutality. Black Lives Matter states that the movement’s goal is to bring justice to the present unjust police killings of African Americans. Looking at prior cases of brutality and its connection to racial profiling, such as the police shooting of Ronald Stokes in 1962, has led many activists in America to connect these past issues to the current events. FBI director James Comey in 2015 stated, “Police officers on patrol in our nation’s cities often work in environments where a hugely disproportionate percentage of street crime is committed by young men of color.” Many like Comey, have suggested that police brutality and profiling cease to exist; however, this is far from the truth. As violence towards African Americans increases yearly, the relevance of the past displays the evidence of how the issue is relevant in the present. To understand police violence towards African Americans, the American public must look into past cases of brutality to inform society’s perspective in the present and into the future.

In the previous year, the amount of people killed by the police department has increased, and even worse African Americans are three times more likely than Caucasians to be killed by the hands of a police. In 2015, the percent of unarmed African Americans killed was 30 percent compared to 19 percent of Caucasians. Although, 2016 is not over yet already 793 people have been killed by policemen. Mike Luckovich drew this cartoon representing the fear of African Americans, and to point out that recently the shootings are reoccurring. The number has made it so difficult for African Americans to live peacefully, they are in constant fear that their life could be taken away by the police. The cartoonist drew a black man in the car conversing with

These are some reasons police brutality has to end because it’s affecting the rate of african americans in america .

But if we have better communication between the good cops with the community, there would be less of the bad cops who kill for no reason. Police brutality against African Americans have been increasing over the past couple of years. Proper training of law enforcers and better education to the community will help ensure some of these incidents would not end with a life lost. “Police need to learn more than logistics of policing but also the broader significance of their role in society” (Police Need Better). In this statement it is saying that yes, the job of the police to enforce the law, but also to ensure the safety of general public. Many Caucasian officers are getting away with the senseless killings of the African American population. For instance, in the case with Michael Slager trial, there was a mistrial declared. “A judge in Charleston declare a mistrial Monday after a jury deliberated 22 hours over four days without reaching a unanimous verdict. Slager, 35, testified he feared for his life when he shot Scott, 50, in the back as he fled a traffic stop in April 2015” (Bacon). There is now a delay in the justice that Walter Slager deserves.

Last year, blacks were killed very often and in bad demeanors by cops. Alton Sterling was pinned to the ground, hands up unarmed, was shot twice in the chest and died. Nothing happened to those cops because they say it was self-defense. Another incident where a black male was pulled over his hands clearly shown on his steering wheel, was shot dead with his wife and son in the car. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in his own neighborhood just because of his appearance, the man was set

Read the article: "Racial Profiling: A Survey of African American Police Officers"(Barlow & Barlow, 2002). Using concepts from chapters 1-6 as the basis for your analysis, in a narrative format of 750 or more words, summarize: 
(a) the research problem, 
(b) the literature review, 
(c) data-gathering strategy, 
(d) any hypotheses, 
(e) the dependent and independent variable in one of the cause-effect relationships tested by the researchers, 
(f) how the dependent and independent variable were operationalized, 
(g) other variables that should have been measured and/or controlled, and 
(h) the key findings and/or policy issues.

Blacks are considered as an stereotype threat ( a situational predicament in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of conforming to stereotypes about their social group). Therefore , blacks are concerned they will be judged and treated unfairly by police , in line with those stereotypes.Police officers shows their cognitive dissonance (state of tension that occurs whenever an individual simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent) against blacks or african americans. Due to the past stereotype, blacks are considered to be dangerous and monstrous individuals to police officers. Police officers link with themselves with interpersonal sensitivity for black individuals.